‘That’s me. The fairy. My name’s Lara. What’s happened? Are you ill? How long have you had spots?’ She peered a little closer at Aggie’s face and realised that, close up, the spots looked like nothing she’d ever seen before. ‘Er…Aggie, about these spots…’
‘I need to see Daddy.’ Her voice was a soft whisper and Lara nodded.
‘Of course you do. But tell me what happened. Why is your wrist bandaged?’ She looked at the loose, saggy bandage and knew immediately who had done the bandaging. ‘Did you fall?’
Aggie swung her legs. ‘Not exactly.’
‘And those spots…’ Lara reached out a finger and rubbed at the spots. ‘Aggie, why have you been painting spots on yourself?’
‘Because I need to look ill,’ Aggie blurted out. ‘Daddy said we weren’t to bother him at the hospital unless one of us was ill, but I really, really need to talk to him. It’s totally urgent and important.’
Lara stood up and held out her hand. ‘Come on. Come through and see our toys and I’ll find your daddy. Where’s Chloe?’
‘She’s playing with a friend. I was at home with Nanny Bottle. But she was very thirsty so she drank and drank and then her eyes went all funny and her voice sounded jumpy. And then she couldn’t make my tea.’
‘Nanny Bottle?’ Lara tapped in the code and opened the door. ‘Is she your new nanny?’
‘Yes. She’s worse than Nanny TV,’ Aggie confided gloomily. ‘At least Nanny TV was awake—when she wasn’t asleep.’
‘Your new nanny is asleep?’
‘I expect she was tired from all that drinking. She sort of drank and drank and then swayed like this and hiccoughed a lot.’ Aggie demonstrated. ‘And then her eyes went funny and her voice went jumpy. And she fell asleep.’
Drunk?
Lara glanced at her in horror as she led her through to Christian’s office. ‘Don’t worry about that now. You’ll be safe here. This is your dad’s office.’
‘I know. He brought me once so that I can imagine where he is if I miss him during the day.’ Aggie settled confidently into the chair just as the door opened again and Christian strode in.
‘Aggie?’
‘Daddy.’ There was a hitch in her voice and she shrank back slightly in the chair. ‘Promise you’re not angry.’
‘What are you doing at the hospital? And what’s happened to your arm?’ He looked at the bandages and his eyes narrowed as he studied the spots. ‘Aggie—’
‘I tried to make them look real but the colour is wrong and I didn’t know what to do,’Aggie burst out. ‘You told us not to bother you unless one of us was ill so I thought if I bandaged myself you wouldn’t be angry because you’d think I was hurt.’
Christian took a deep breath and dropped onto his haunches, his eyes level with his daughter’s. ‘I’m not angry with you, sweetheart. But I do want to know what you’re doing here. Where’s Mrs Birkin? She’s supposed to be looking after you.’
Aggie curled her legs under her, rubbing her little shoes on Christian’s chair. ‘She was thirsty. And now she’s lying on the floor.’
‘Thirsty?’ Christian stared at her for a moment and then his mouth hardened. ‘You mean she was drinking? What was she drinking?’
‘Something from a dark bottle. She must have liked it because she drank loads. Then she started talking funny and lay down on the floor. I couldn’t get her to talk and I was worried. I thought she’d had an accident.’
‘Drinking from a bottle?’ His eyes burning with anger, Christian rose to his feet and looked at Lara. ‘I need to go home.’
‘Of course you do. I’m due to finish in five minutes. Why don’t I come with you?’ She didn’t know what had prompted her to s
uggest it, and she braced herself for rejection.
He hesitated and then gave a swift nod. ‘That would be helpful. You can stay with the children while I sort out the nanny, if that’s all right with you.’
‘Of course.’
At that moment Chloe came flying through the door. ‘Dad! Aggie’s not at home and Mrs Birkin is—’ Her face cleared as she saw her sister nestled into the chair. ‘Oh. Thank goodness. I got home from my friend’s and there was no sign of them and Nanny Birkin was asleep.’ She looked at Aggie. ‘How did you get to the hospital?’
‘I called that taxi number that’s stuck to the board in the kitchen and told him it was urgent.’